Intolerable Acts

( 1774 ) Commentary by Taylor Stoermer, John Hopkins University

“Dangerous commotions and insurrections have been fomented and raised in the town of Boston, in the province of Massachuset's [sic] Bay, in New England, by divers ill-affected persons, to the subversion of his Majesty's government, and to the utter destruction of the publick peace, and good order of the said town.” - Preamble, Boston Port Act
“The persons so annually elected, hath, for some time past, been such as had the most manifest tendency to obstruct, and, in great measure, defeat, the execution of the laws; to weaken and, in great measure, defeat, the execution of the laws; to weaken the attachment of his Majesty's well-disposed subjects in the said province to his Majesty's government, and to encourage the ill-disposed among them to proceed even to acts of direct resistance to, and defiance of, his Majesty's authority; And it hath accordingly happened that an open resistance to the execution of the laws hath actually taken place in the town of Boston.” - Preamble, Massachusetts Government Act
“In the present disordered state of the said province, it is of the utmost importance to the general welfare thereof, and to the re-establishment of lawful authority throughout the same, that neither the magistrates acting in support of the laws, nor any of his Majesty's subjects aiding and assisting them therein, or in the suppression of riots and tumults, raised in opposition to the execution of the laws and statutes of this realm, should be discouraged from the proper discharge of their duty.” - Preamble, Administration of Justice Act

The Boston Tea Party, which led directly to four of the five Intolerable Acts (Library of Congress)

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Intolerable Acts

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